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3 Advent

Psalm 41

Assurance of God’s Help and a Plea for Healing

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

1 Happy are those who consider the poor;[a]the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble.2 The Lord protects them and keeps them alive;they are called happy in the land.You do not give them up to the will of their enemies.3 The Lord sustains them on their sickbed;in their illness you heal all their infirmities.[b]

4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;heal me, for I have sinned against you.”5 My enemies wonder in malicewhen I will die, and my name perish.6 And when they come to see me, they utter empty words,while their hearts gather mischief;when they go out, they tell it abroad.7 All who hate me whisper together about me;they imagine the worst for me.

8 They think that a deadly thing has fastened on me,that I will not rise again from where I lie.9 Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted,who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me.10 But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,and raise me up, that I may repay them.

11 By this I know that you are pleased with me;because my enemy has not triumphed over me.12 But you have upheld me because of my integrity,and set me in your presence forever.

13 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,from everlasting to everlasting.Amen and Amen.

Footnotes:

Psalm 52

Judgment on the Deceitful

To the leader. A Maskil of David, when Doeg the Edomite came to Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

1 Why do you boast, O mighty one,of mischief done against the godly?[a]All day long 2 you are plotting destruction.Your tongue is like a sharp razor,you worker of treachery.3 You love evil more than good,and lying more than speaking the truth.Selah4 You love all words that devour,O deceitful tongue.

5 But God will break you down forever;he will snatch and tear you from your tent;he will uproot you from the land of the living.Selah6 The righteous will see, and fear,and will laugh at the evildoer,[b] saying,7 “See the one who would not takerefuge in God,but trusted in abundant riches,and sought refuge in wealth!”[c]

8 But I am like a green olive treein the house of God.I trust in the steadfast love of Godforever and ever.9 I will thank you forever,because of what you have done.In the presence of the faithfulI will proclaim[d] your name, for it is good.

Footnotes:

Psalm 44

National Lament and Prayer for Help

To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Maskil.

1 We have heard with our ears, O God,our ancestors have told us,what deeds you performed in their days,in the days of old:2 you with your own hand drove out the nations,but them you planted;you afflicted the peoples,but them you set free;3 for not by their own sword did they win the land,nor did their own arm give them victory;but your right hand, and your arm,and the light of your countenance,for you delighted in them.

4 You are my King and my God;you command[a] victories for Jacob.5 Through you we push down our foes;through your name we tread down our assailants.6 For not in my bow do I trust,nor can my sword save me.7 But you have saved us from our foes,and have put to confusion those who hate us.8 In God we have boasted continually,and we will give thanks to your name forever.Selah

9 Yet you have rejected us and abased us,and have not gone out with our armies.10 You made us turn back from the foe,and our enemies have gotten spoil.11 You have made us like sheep for slaughter,and have scattered us among the nations.12 You have sold your people for a trifle,demanding no high price for them.

13 You have made us the taunt of our neighbors,the derision and scorn of those around us.14 You have made us a byword among the nations,a laughingstock[b] among the peoples.15 All day long my disgrace is before me,and shame has covered my face16 at the words of the taunters and revilers,at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.

17 All this has come upon us,yet we have not forgotten you,or been false to your covenant.18 Our heart has not turned back,nor have our steps departed from your way,19 yet you have broken us in the haunt of jackals,and covered us with deep darkness.

20 If we had forgotten the name of our God,or spread out our hands to a strange god,21 would not God discover this?For he knows the secrets of the heart.22 Because of you we are being killed all day long,and accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

23 Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord?Awake, do not cast us off forever!24 Why do you hide your face?Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?25 For we sink down to the dust;our bodies cling to the ground.26 Rise up, come to our help.Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love.

Footnotes:

First Vision: The Horsemen

7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo; and Zechariah[a] said, 8 In the night I saw a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen; and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. 9 Then I said, “What are these, my lord?” The angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what they are.” 10 So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, “They are those whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.” 11 Then they spoke to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have patrolled the earth, and lo, the whole earth remains at peace.” 12 Then the angel of the Lord said, “O Lord of hosts, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which you have been angry these seventy years?” 13 Then the Lord replied with gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. 14 So the angel who talked with me said to me, Proclaim this message: Thus says the Lord of hosts; I am very jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. 15 And I am extremely angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they made the disaster worse. 16 Therefore, thus says the Lord, I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion; my house shall be built in it, says the Lord of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. 17 Proclaim further: Thus says the Lord of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity; the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.

Footnotes:

The Message to Philadelphia

7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These are the words of the holy one, the true one,who has the key of David,who opens and no one will shut,who shuts and no one opens:

8 “I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but are lying—I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. 11 I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12 If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. 13 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

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Matthew 24:15-31

The Desolating Sacrilege

15 “So when you see the desolating sacrilege standing in the holy place, as was spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand), 16 then those in Judea must flee to the mountains; 17 the one on the housetop must not go down to take what is in the house; 18 the one in the field must not turn back to get a coat. 19 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath. 21 For at that time there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look! Here is the Messiah!’[a] or ‘There he is!’—do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs[b] and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 Take note, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look! He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look! He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

The Coming of the Son of Man

29 “Immediately after the suffering of those days

the sun will be darkened,and the moon will not give its light;the stars will fall from heaven,and the powers of heaven will be shaken.

30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.